Ad Victoriam ~ Elder Maxson x reader - Part 3

6 - Extinction

It's like Uri has pre-war roaches crawling under her skin. Itching. Digging. Scratching. The others fall into line with ease. It seems to be a speciality of hers: gaining the trust she needs, when she needs it, with nothing more than the jutting of her lower lip.

And now... They're sat in Vault 81s classroom, watching her with wide eyes as she paces the expanse of the perfectly maintained chalkboard. Her throat is sore from overexertion. Uri has told them everything; every scrap of detail she has that reveals the Institute has watching eyes.

Suddenly, her burning desire to get to 81 makes sense.

"Well," Nick breaks the silence first - rubbing at the still-good side of his face. "Diamond City knew as much. Piper here has paranoia sky high, but to have it confirmed..."

"It's a whole new ball game," Uri finishes, then snorts at her own pun. "Want to weigh in, Pipes?"

Piper's eyes are glassy, but she jumps at the mention of her name.

"I-I'm sorry, Blue. I don't know anything other than what's in the papers. Synths replace people - we know that they use those synths to watch us. Who's to say that's not it--?"

"That's not all that they're doing!" Uri huffs, "They know too much. All that stuff Shaun knew about me? I was all alone when I woke from cryo--"

"But how does that prove that they're watching us through other than synths? Or those old world security cameras?"

"Do you think I'm crazy or something!?" Uri's head shakes wildly, "I've re-lived that conversation in the Memory Den enough times to repeat what he said word-for-word. 'You set out to the wastes - surviving whatever ills came your way. I had to know more' and he knows more. He knows too much; we need to figure out how."

"Uri's right, Piper," Nick's sigh pulls them away from their debate. "The evidence points at them using a superior form of surveillance. Now, if we know anything about the Institute, it's that they know how to track people. Replacement synths and security cameras are too obvious. There's gotta be something else..."

"Alice?" The scribes eyes snap from Nick to Uri. "What sort of findings have you guys managed to pick up on the synth work? Arth-- uh, Elder Maxson has you focusing primarily on gen-threes still, right?"

"Our research is primarily biological," Alice appears sheepish. "We have been looking into the difference between synths made of flesh-and-blood, and those like..." she glances Nick's way, but stammers, "like the other synths."

"That's frustrating, but not entirely useless. We could still use some of that expertise when we figure out how they're watching us."

A sudden, harsh series of knocks reverberate from the doorway; startling the four humans in the room.

"Lights out in ten, people. You need to head to your bunks."

Nick chuckles as they clutch their chests; gasping in air to calm the sudden spike to their heart rates.

"We'll talk more tomorrow," Uri grumbles. She knows that she will barely sleep, but it's best not to piss off the vault's residents on their first night here. The others nod along in agreement, so the knight-turned-CO gathers her notes as they shuffle towards the door. Piper and Nick have been given the De Lucas old room, whilst Alice and Del have had a bunk bed set up in the room Vault 81 donated to Uri for saving little Austin.

"Hey, Uri?" Del's voice is but a murmur as he catches her arm - the act slips Alice's notice as she heads into their room.

"What's up?"

"I, uh... I just wanted to ask why I'm here," the knight shifts under her gaze. "I get why Piper and Nick are needed, and Alice has knowledge on the scribes synth projects, but I'm just the guy who fights. I don't have any special skills or info that can help."